“A recent scientific report forecasts that waters could swell as much as seven feet by 2100.” More …
Private Toll Operators Salivate Over Donald Trump’s Infrastructure Plan
“Investors are hoping to seize upon the $1 trillion infrastructure plan proposed by President Donald Trump to transform the nation’s highways, bridges, and tunnels into assets they can monetize by adding tolls and other user fees. The Trump infrastructure plan is centered on the idea of ‘asset recycling,’ which refers to the process of securing new infrastructure spending by leasing the operations of existing public property to private operators.” More …
Infrastructure: Why Trump’s Public-Private Partnership Model Is Good for Wall Street but Bad for America
“Trump’s plan to rebuild America relies heavily on the use of public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure projects with private equity capital. Such financing, whether through private equity or traditional tax-exempt municipal bonds, is repaid by ordinary citizens through a combination of taxes and user fees. Private equity financing is markedly more expensive than traditional government financing, however – by as much as three to six times. Considering the scale of infrastructure development under consideration, that difference could be enormous.” More …
Tourism to the U.S. Has Been in Decline Since Trump Took Office
“Travel to the United States has dropped as much as 16 percent in the months since President Donald Trump took office — and there’s no sign of recovery, according to a new study.” More …
Saudis Spent $270K at Trump Hotel In Lobbying Campaign Against 9/11 Bill
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has paid Trump International Hotel nearly $270,000 through its Washington, D.C. lobbying firm over the past several months, new foreign lobbying disclosure filings show. The payments, from Qorvis MSLGroup, were made for hotel rooms and catering services for dozens of U.S. veterans who the lobbying firm recruited as part of an influence campaign aimed at watering down legislation that could put Saudi Arabia on the hook financially for the 9/11 attacks.” More …
Is the Census Heading for a Crisis?
“The triple gap in Census Bureau leadership, along with a funding shortfall that has already forced the cancellation of multiple field tests, leaves observers worried about an impending crisis in the biggest civic project that Washington regularly undertakes—a population count that has profound effects on American business and politics.” More …
As Voodoo Economics Fails in Kansas, Trump Takes It National
“Kansas GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts have failed so dramatically and incontrovertibly that the state’s Republican legislature overrode Brownback’s veto to eliminate them. Incredibly, a majority of the Republicans in both chambers of the state legislature voted against the tax cuts. In a new interview with Russell Berman, Grover Norquist insists the failure in Kansas does not tell us much at all about anything. ‘If you’re a Republican looking for a model,’ he says, ‘Kansas is not the model.'” So much for voodoo economics (aka trickle down economics). More …
GOP Paul Ryan Says ‘Death Tax’ Hurts Wisconsin Small Businesses. IRS Data Shows Otherwise.
“As they push to abolish the estate tax, the House Speaker and President Trump may be exaggerating its harm to small businesses and family farms.” More …
Insurance CEO: I’m Raising Obamacare Premiums Because of Trump
“Most health insurance executives will demur when you ask questions about whether the Trump administration is making Obamacare more expensive. Not Brad Wilson. He’s the chief executive of Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina, a health insurance plan that just filed a 22.9 percent Obamacare rate increase in 2018. Wilson had hoped to have a smaller rate increase this year; he feels like, after years of losing money, the North Carolina marketplace is finally stabilizing. But Wilson is asking for a big increase in 2018 because it does not expect the Trump administration to fund a key Obamacare program, the cost-sharing subsidies.” More …
There Are Now 47 Counties Where No Health Plans Want to Sell Obamacare
“Slowly but surely, we are seeing the practical effects of the Trump administration’s efforts to sow uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act’s future. They look like the very early stages of collapse. Over the past two weeks, key health insurance plans have quit or scaled back participation in Obamacare marketplaces. This means there are now 47 counties scattered across Missouri, Ohio, and Washington with zero health plans signed up to sell 2018 marketplace coverage.” More …